L'arbre des souhaits

Beauty of nature. Force of traditions. Sad love story. A myth. Lost time. Wisdom, fool, expectation, nuances of cruelty. And the verdict - cold and harsh.An Abuladze movie in which poetry and testimony are parts of same chain. A parable, fairy tale or lesson about roots of present. A sick horse, a boy and a field of poppies. A village and Pupala. Freedom as silk and gold embroidery. A world. From Caucasus, Central Asia or Balkans. And an empty circle. So, it is not exactly a film. But object for meditate. For joy. For define secret dreams, desires and escapes. A skull from Hamlet, a game of a jester, confession of a strange lady, fruits of a tree, look of a young girl. And bread for far time. In case you get lost.

a poem. about love and fear and need to escape from social pressure. a confession. and one of the most powerful films of Abuladze for remind the authority of tradition, for the portraits of each character, for the start scene, for the universe of each meet and for the waters of emotions. nothing surprising. landscapes and colors and words and a profound drama as definition of a state. an aesthetic experience. and discovery of a world who is so seductive in its cruelty and bizarre laws and rituals, faith or brutality than it seems be translation of present events. a village. and its people. from Caucasus or Balkans or Middle Orient. or, just from a form of past who defines us. because the story, so simple and touching and delicate and cold has the great virtue to be , in special way, part of our past.a horse, a child, a poppies field.the face of a young woman. the death/sin. and the words of an old man. and nothing else. as deep treats of a protective circle.

The Wishing Tree (1977) is a good movie, sort of a poetic parable with no plot but takes a big dark shift at the end. Showing a realistic display of Georgia before the revolution like a solemn and reflective piece of poetry. The ending is just sorrowful, and the course of events are drawing the attention of viewers easily and it is not easy to forget the scenes from the movie after watching it. The first image of a dying horse in a poppy field sets the tone and becomes a potent metaphor for the film in miniature. Most of the film takes place in a wilderness area cordoned off by the city and revolves around the orphaned girl Marita who has done a fabulous job. This film is so deeply immersive, taking its time to give us an incredibly realistic portrayal of what life was like in pre-revolutionary community. The first hour or so is slow, but it establishes the world these people were living in when societal norms, superstition, ignorance, and religion were so dominant. There are lots of little touches in the film, such as the villager's reaction to the events. Though it is based on 22 stories by Georgian poet and prose writer Giorgi Leonidze, the film is less concerned with the full detail than it is with pondering the philosophical and societal notions of personal faith, innocence, gender imbalance, guilt and desire. The performances are solid, the most vivid coming in the part of Lika Kavzharadze, the innocent Marita. This is part of Tenghiz Abuladze's cinematic triptych: "The Supplication" - "The Wishing Tree" - "Repentance". Highly recommended!!